Biiwaabko Nimosh: Taking us places

Posted on by

WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY — Could someone from Wikwemikong High School work at NASA? “Yes, of course, for sure!” replied NASA mechanical engineer Aaron Yazzie when he virtually met with the robotics team and science students this January.

Yazzie is Diné (Navajo) who grew up amongst the canyons and pastel-coloured mesas of northeastern Arizona. He studied at a small-town public school and went to Stanford University on a scholarship.

Since 2008, Yazzie has worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, designing mechanical systems for their robotic space search missions. He is part of the team that designed and built “Perseverance” – the Mars Land Rover.

It was a journey with challenges.

“When I left my home to go to Stanford, that was a big culture shock, and I had a lot to learn,” he said. “I sought out study groups, peer groups, and extra time with my professors.”

Yazzie’s story inspired the students.

“It’s not every day that you get to meet someone like Aaron,” said Baybee Bryant. “I like that he kept trying and trying.”

The robotics team from Wiikwemkoong has a proud tradition. Established in 2015, they reached the FIRST Robotics world championships in 2019, winning the prestigious Chairman’s Award.

Every January, FIRST Robotics releases a game worldwide. Teams spend time doing strategic analysis, developing a game plan, and designing and building a robot to effectively play the game.

“These are large-scale industrial robots,” explained Chris Mara, Wikwemikong High School science teacher and robotics team coach. “They weigh 125 lbs and can travel 15 feet per second.”

Wiikwemkoong’s robot is the “Biiwaabko Nimosh” (Iron Dog), named by the grandmother of the first robotics team captain Annie Wemigwans, Julie Wemigwans.

Yazzie and the students found that they have a lot in common.

“The things I do in my job every day are very similar to what they are doing now: design parts and mechanisms,” he said.

The team recently completed their design work for this year’s FIRST Robotics competition. They are now building a robot that must “pick up and place objects on a scale of low, medium, and high difficulty,” said robotics team member Zander Shawongonabe.

“We’re all one team,” said Pahquis Trudeau. “But we work in smaller groups and we all have our specialties.”

Aaron agrees with this approach.

“Engineering isn’t just about being smart at math and science. It’s about being creative, working together on a large team, and becoming a well-rounded leader,” he said.

Teamwork is about problem-solving, too.

“Problems that seem impossible but that the students are working out,” said Aaron, citing electronics as an example.

“There are lots of wires in a big robot,” Zander said.

The idea to bring Aaron to Wiikwemkoong originated with Dominic Beaudry of Science North’s Indigenous Advisory Committee and funding was provided by the Ministry of Education. Matthew Graveline, an outreach staff scientist at Science North, hopes there will be more opportunities for Aaron to visit the north.

This year at Wiikwemkoong, they face a new challenge.

“There are no veterans on the robotics team,” said Mr. Mara.

Still, the team of engineers and scientists can count on a coach proud of their courage and openness to take on any challenge that may come their way.

For Pahquis Trudeau, the robotics team is part of his long-term learning path.

“I want to take mechanical engineering in the future,” he said. “And why not take this opportunity to learn about mechanics and robotics?”

And for Zander Shawongonabe, “the best of all is building the robot. It’s amazing, very cool. It makes me feel like ‘We built that,’ and hopefully, it takes us places.”

Photo: Wiikwemkoong Board of Education

Published: anishinabeknews.ca/2023/02/17/biiwaabko-nimosh-taking-us-places/

Come to the River with Us.

Posted on by

Come to the River with Us.

You have to be quick to keep up with Willie Sellars; even when he’s packing 24 sockeye in a burlap sack up the switchback paths of Farwell Canyon.

Willie’s a goalie, a family man and a Councillor for the Williams Lake Indian Band. He’s a soon-to-be published children’s book author too.

“I’m always on the hunt for a First Nations picture book to read with my children,” he said. Working with an illustrator, Willie took matters in hand and wrote a story about dip net fishing. “Dad brought me up dip netting for salmon,” Willie said. “But nobody knows about this fishery.”

Driving out to the Chilcotin River, I asked him what lessons he’d like young people to take from his book and his life on the river.

Respect the river. He remembers an elder telling him: “Don’t spit in the river. It’s a sign of disrespect.” When we were on the Chilcotin, Willie took the time to clean up wrappers and cans that had been left behind. “It’s something that I was taught; it’s something that I believe,” he said.

Take pride in your culture and traditions. “Providing for the community is cool,” he said. “It costs me some money to live by the river, but this summer I’ve given about 800 fish to First Nations communities.”

Reflecting on his younger days, Willie remembered that “fishing helped to keep me out of trouble.” Nearing the bridge, he invited young people to join him: “You don’t have to party to have fun. Come to the river with us.”

View the photo album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.173151179541135.1073741857.150376608485259&type=3

September 18, 2013

Making it Through at TRU.

Posted on by

Matty Chill

Mathilda (Matty) Chillihitzia played high school rugby with an edge.

“Rugby, you know it’s rough,” says the geography student from Upper Nicola Band. “But when I got into my zone, I just focused on the game.”

Arriving at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in the fall of 2011, Matty found herself on a new playing field – one that surprisingly felt rougher than rugby. “When I first came to the school I was scared, like every first-year student is,” she remembers. “I felt alone.”

As a first year student at TRU, it was anything but sure that Matty was going to reach her educational goal. About half of Aboriginal students quit TRU before graduating; most during their first year.

It turns out that education is also a team sport. And with a little help from the Aboriginal Mentors Program, Matty has found her game at TRU.

Vernie Clement (Lhoosk’uz Dene Nation) is the mentor coordinator. He began working with Aboriginal students when he was in Grade 11 at North Kamloops Secondary School. “A few of the support workers thought that I’d be a good peer tutor, so they threw me into that program,” he recalled with a smile.

Arriving at TRU as “someone with more questions than answers,” Vernie chose business studies as the way to broaden his knowledge base. He soon realized that there wasn’t the same support at TRU as there’d been at North Kam. Luckily, he became friends with a student who became “a mentor to me. He was in the business program, but connected to his culture too.”

Vernie then joined the First Nations Student Society. He also became part of a group of Aboriginal students who took the initiative to mentor others. “When we’d see each other and see that something was wrong, we helped each other out,” he said. “It was a natural thing to do. We saw the need, so we stepped in and took control.”

This mentoring tradition continued the night that Matty happened to meet Alexa Manuel (Upper Nicola Band) and Bernie Gilbert (T’exelc). “We were going to the Gathering Place to study,” Bernie recalls. “I could tell that Matty wanted to join us, so I invited her.”

“Bernie took me under his wing,” said Matty. He helped her with academic skills like organizing her assignments, as well as “the little things, like, if you have a reading that’s due next week, finish it, so that you have the extra time,” she added.

“I was challenging her to be better for herself,” said Bernie. Encouraged by Alexa, Bernie and Jan Petrar at TRU Study Abroad, Matty decided to travel to Australia for four months of study at Southern Cross University. She remembers it as “the greatest experience of my life.”

“There’ve been countless times that I’ve been labelled as the sole mentor for Matty,” said Bernie. “But Alexa had just as much of an influence on her as I did.”

What inspired them to look out for Matty? Bernie and Alexa were concerned about the number of Aboriginal students who don’t finish first year. They were determined that Matty’s first year would be the foundation for future success.

Their efforts were rewarded. “She had a genuine thirst for knowledge and guidance,” said Bernie. “Matty made sacrifices to study. She was right beside us at the campus library for late Friday nights, and early on Saturday and Sunday mornings.”

Today, Matty is focused on her studies, as well as, her new responsibilities as a TRU Aboriginal mentor. “She’s a role model, recognized by the children in her community for her accomplishments,” said Bernie.

Matty’s success is just one sign of improving prospects for Aboriginal students.

Aboriginal TRU START is a program where high school students earn university credits in three core courses (English, Biology and Statistics). “The goal is to provide them with the skills and confidence to make the transition to university life,” said Vernie Clement.

Last year, 12 students received passing grades in 35 of 36 classes. Currently, there are 17 students in the program. Vernie credits the cooperation between School District #73 and TRU faculty and staff for the students’ achievements.

On campus, Vernie sees Aboriginal students using The Gathering Place “more than ever. Traffic is steady; the mentors keep it open in the evening.” He also feels that Aboriginal students are “speaking up more and taking ownership of their education.”

Initiatives like TRU START and the mentor program are new, and research continues, still “We know that we’re making a difference. Our students have told us that,” said Vernie. “We have success stories. We have students making it through.”

Walter Quinlan (February, 2013)

Lynda Ursaki: Bringing People Together.

Posted on by

Image

On June 11th, the Cooks Ferry Indian Band (Nlak’apamux) hosted the First Annual Unity Gathering. It was a day to recognize the importance of the Laurier Memorial of 1910 in the fight for rights and title. The ceremonies took place, where the Nicola and Thompson rivers meet, in the new Chief Tetlenitsa Memorial Outdoor Theatre.

Lynda Ursaki designed this “performance space” while working as an intern at Patrick R. Stewart Architect in Chilliwack. She’s the daughter of Cooks Ferry Indian Band elder Don and Lorna Ursaki and granddaughter of Dorothy Ursaki (nee Walkem).

Her journey as an architect began by listening to her father and grandmother recount stories of traditional building methods. Lynda took those lessons with her to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia where she did her Master’s Thesis in First Nations Architecture. Central to Lynda’s studies and work is the question, “How do I make traditional technology relevant to today?” The answers are evident in the Chief Tetlenitsa Theatre.

The theatre’s design is based on the pithouse. People enter by the north and pay homage to the east. “People gather in a circle,” Lynda explained, “tighter in the centre and looser on the outside rings.” Accordingly, the main performance space is in the centre, like the fire pit, and stories are told “in the round.” The surrounding seating and walking ramp provide a sense of closeness to others, clear sightlines and ease of movement throughout. “The building wraps itself around you,” Lynda said.

Excellent sound quality wherever you sit in the theatre adds to that sense of closeness. The underside of the roof is made from 2×4 and 2×6 Beetle-kill Pine wood – an undulating surface that dampens echo and disperses sounds coming from outside of the performance space. Traditionally, poles were treated with a “pitch and burn” method. Lynda’s grandmother, remembering how she saw it as a child, said that a log end was first rolled in pine pitch, then, through a fire, creating a preservative seal. For this building, the poles are protected by a modern method of “pitch and burn,” supplemented by minimal flashing.

“First Nations have been great at learning new technologies and making them our own,” said Lynda. “It’s a sign that our culture is a live culture, adapting and moving forward.” She’s grateful that the contractors and consultants working on this project were “enthusiastic” about her vision for the building’s design and construction.

Lynda spoke of how much it meant to her to have the opportunity to honour her culture and to do something for her people. “Sometimes you feel like you don’t have the tools to deal with all the stresses of today,” she said. For Lynda, the Chief Tetlenitsa Theatre “is a tool for our people to celebrate our culture and plan for our future.”

My interview with Lynda was published in the Secwepemc News during the summer of 2010.

To learn about the 1910 Memorial from the interior Chiefs to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, please follow the link below:

1910 Memorial to Sir Wilfred Laurier